Pathetic.
I was like the suicide bomber there..except the bomb exploded before i can reach anybody else..
I am talking, of course, about my recent participation in the MSA Nationals 2011 in Penang. Fresh from winning the Subang Scrabble Challenge the week before, I thought I would try my luck in the Nationals in the hope of earning more money. The RM400 that I gained from my winnings was used to fund my trip to Penang.
And what a despair it was.
First, I booked my hotel stay at the wrong date and only realized it two days before I was supposed to head up to Penang. Then, I had to rush and pack up my things for Penang.
Well, at least the trip down was rather nice. I followed Ramaraj's family to Penang and we stayed at the same hotel; Copthorne Orchid Hotel Penang.
The hotel room was nice too.
Here are some pictures of the hotel room i was staying in.. Coincidentally, my room was 1802, my exam number..
The room door number :P
The door -.-
The bed..I had the whole bed to myself since i'm living alone
Nice..I left my teaspoon there though...
The corridor.. its actually a very nice hotel all in all..
I have no SS skills..
So, that was the hotel..
We come to the games.. I had planned to take photos of all the games i had played...but i was too depressed after each game to bother taking them..There are some though..
Game 1.
CCW vs Lim Sha Lyn [Win 419-375]
Current status - 1/0 Bingoes - 3/3 S's - 3/3 Blanks - 2/2
In this game, i missed WOMANISE, TANGELOS and COAGENTS as well as phoneyed GAUSSED..correct was DEGAUSS.
Game 2.
CCW vs Ng Chee Eng [Lose 318-436]
Current status - 1/1 Bingoes - 1/4 S's - 2/5 Blanks - 1/3
Played badly.. Missed INVESTOR, RIVIERAS, ANNECTENT, CONATURE, ENCURTAIN, CONNATE, CANDENT, NASCENT, PRIVADO and VIDENDA.. terrible..
Game 3.
Pui Cheng Wui vs CCW [Win 532-423]
Current status - 2/1 Bingoes - 5/9 S's - 3/8 Blanks - 2/5
Despite playing 5 bingoes, I still missed many bingoes.. my first rack of AEELMRT had LAMETER, ATREMBLE, MATERIEL, REALTIME, EREMITAL, LAMENTER and TELEGRAM from his first move of BLING.. I also missed FLAVINES, TESTRILL, TESTRILS and KLISTER albeit bingoing BARONET, STERLING, HEJIRAS, SEWERAGE and OUTSHINE.
Game 4.
Martin Teo vs CCW [Lose 349-396]
Current status - 2/2 Bingoes - 1/10 S's - 3/11 Blanks - 1/6
Made a wrong judgement in the endgame which did not help me in reducing my spread. Missed the hook of WIRRA to make WIRRAH.
Game 5.
CCW vs Yeap Gim Sai [Win 466-327]
Current status - 3/2 Bingoes - 3/13 S's - 3/14 Blanks - 1/7
Played fairly okay in this game. Missed words like KAIZEN, HORME and MERCH for higher-scoring moves..
Game 6
Muhammad Ali vs CCW [Win 475-309]
Current status - 4/2 Bingoes - 2/15 S's - 1/15 Blanks - 2/9
First time i got both blanks in the same rack..and last time i guess..Chickened out of REEDSTOP which I was 75% sure..Bingoed POTTERED though.. Missed HOWFF, FANWORT, ANTIFUR and OUTSPREAD.
Game 7
CCW vs Aaron Chong [Lose 407-442]
Current status - 4/3 Bingoes - 2/17 S's - 2/17 Blanks - 1/10
Played a very bad move in this game..choosing not to block the only bingo spot, I opened another spot to get hit with OREADES, causing me to lose the game. Missed the beautiful ALKOXIDE.
Game 8
Ramaraj vs CCW [Lose 333-450]
Current status - 4/4 Bingoes - 1/18 S's - 2/19 Blanks - 0/10
Bad luck here.. Missed BELEAPT and MAUNGIER.. Ram changed to bingo twice and took the two blanks.. really not my game..
Game 9
Jocelyn Lor vs CCW [Lose 345-435]
Current status - 4/5 Bingoes - 1/19 S's - 2/21 Blanks - 0/10
I had a first turn CARMINES for 95 which I should have thought longer and played CREMAINS, a much safer move. I missed SALVIFIC, RITTERS, TERRITS, ARBORES and BRASERO..talk about losing a game after missing simple words like that.
Game 10
Zeenath Ariff vs CCW [Win 446-408]
Current status - 5/5 Bingoes - 3/22 S's - 1/22 Blanks - 2/12
Thought i had an easy game.. but it wasn't to be. Missed CANTRAIP and RADDING.
Game 11
CCW vs Alex Tan [Lose 376-439]
Current status - 5/6 Bingoes - 1/20 S's - 2/23 Blanks - 1/13
I think i'll remember this game vividly. Imagine changing thrice in a single game. That was how bad my tiles were. In all due fairness, Alex played well in this game.
Game 12
Sean Chung vs CCW [Lose 417-437]
Current status - 5/7 Bingoes - 2/21 S's - 0/23 Blanks - 1/14
Its his revenge. I think this game goes to the one with the better set of end game tiles.
Game 13
CCW vs John Lam [Win 507-315]
Current status - 6/7 Bingoes - 3/24 S's - 4/27 Blanks - 1/15
My second time I beat him. By a big spread at that. Had quite good tiles. I made sure i scored consistently with my rack. I believed this and the game earlier against Pui were the only two games which I played my best in this tournament.
Game 14
Sean Chung vs CCW [Lose 358-429]
Current status - 6/8 Bingoes - 3/27 S's - 4/31 Blanks - 1/16
After bingoing 3 times in a row, my tiles became inconsistent. I could not score with the racks I had while Sean had balanced racks and was able to take the lead with his last minute bingo and a high scoring play.
Game 15
CCW vs Sreepathy [Win 448-355]
Current status - 7/8 Bingoes - 2/29 S's - 3/34 Blanks - 1/17
Played okay. Nearly missed the bingo for ADENNORT [NONRATED].. finally managed to play SUIVEZ in a tournament.
I'm getting too depressed talking about my games. Here are the final two.
Game 16
CCW vs Pui Cheng Wui [Lose 341-407]
Current status - 7/9 Bingoes - 1/30 S's - 4/38 Blanks - 1/18
Game 17
Yeap Gim Sai vs CCW [ Win 408-323]
Current status - 8/9 Bingoes - 2/31 S's - 2/40 Blanks - 1/19
So in the end, i was eleventh..very dismal performance by someone who just won a tournament barely a week before. Aaron Chong went on to win the tournament, showing grit to get the better of Khoo Beng Way. As a result, Aaron Chong and Yeo Kien Hung will lead the pack of hopeful Malaysians in the upcoming World Scrabble Championship which will be held in Warsaw, Poland. I wish them both all the best in the tournament. May they be in top form there.
On another note, it would seem that my top ten rank which I've just gotten after winning the previous tournament will disappear gloriously in smoke after this abysmal tournament. I would expect a deplete in rating by the same amount I gained before this.
Am I all that sad though? Penang was a worthwhile trip. Aside from the tournament, I enjoyed food that I can never hope to get back in Subang. There are two restaurants which I would like to point out and I urge anyone who has not tried them, to give it a shot.
First
Seafood..many nice XD
The restaurant, Bali Hai Seafood Restaurant
An outdoor restaurant located in Gurney Drive is a very good restaurant with good food. Here is the website. http://www.balihaiseafood.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
I went there with Ram's family and I really have to thank them for this one. At the same time as we were eating, the Singapore vs Malaysia football game was going on. Its really depressing to sit there for the first two minutes to watch Singapore score twice in rapid succession to bring the match to 4-1 at halftime. But the food! It was awesome. Honey chicken, Kai Lan, Assam Red Grouper, Claypot Homemade Tofu and Fuyong Egg with prawns were scrumptious. It did manage to take my mind off the games for a moment.
Second.
The front door to the restaurant, Salsas
Nice, isn't it?
Neat and elegant
The dessert is small and delicious
This is the Salsas, a restaurant located in Continental Hotel but its actually a standalone restaurant, having no affiliations with the hotel. The restaurant only serves set meals to increase efficiency and the food is excellent. There are set meals at different prices, arranged neatly in a menu. The manager is a very young, well-mannered lady, enough to earn many praises from Pui Cheng Wui, whom i was eating together with. (Yeo Kien Hung, Pui and me went for lunch here on the last day). It is just a stone's throwaway from City Bayview Hotel, the venue of our tournament and apparently, according to Henry[Yeo Kien Hung], this is Cheah's favourite restaurant in Penang.
I am satisfied on making the trip up to Penang. I have learnt many new things here as well as gained further experience in my games. I may be performing badly now, but two years from now, I promise I will be better.
A special thanks goes to the Sundraraj family who has helped me make my trip to Penang a very enjoyable one. I apologize if I have done anything rash during the stay in Penang. It has been a nice trip and certainly, one which I will not regret.
CCW
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